The point of this category are simple. Choose which eight characters SHOULD have been followers.

The rules:
1. You must have eight "Vanilla" game characters. No more. No less.
2. Follower charcaters much not be essential. No giving Bumble a minigun and watching her mow down everything because she can't die.
3. You must go by the game's layout: two Good, two Evil, two Neutral, and two Karma-Irrelevant.
4. If your followers are non-canonical, you need to say what weapons they use, both up-close and at a distance. As is normal, their projectile weapon of choice has infinite ammo, and their weapons never wear out.

My octet:
Good: Fawkes. What can I say, I like the big green guy.
Good: Brick. To recruit her, complete "Reilly's Rangers" and pay her 1000 caps (500 if you saved all three Rangers). Her weapons are Eugene and a Ripper. Unlike Cross, she'll continue to follow you if you slip to Neutral, but not if you're actually evil.
Neutral: Sydney. To recruit her, complete "Stealing Independence" and pay her 1000 caps. If you give her any kind of booze, she will always be seen drinking it (like Jericho's chain-smoking). Carries her 10mm SMG and a set of spiked knuckles.
Neutral: Rococo Rockfowl. To recruit him, become a friend of the Outcasts by delivering tech to them. Will leave you if your karma rises to Good or slips to Evil. Carries a Plasma rifle and a Power fist.
Evil: Jericho. He's a good, reliable follower who can be recruited early.
Evil: Clover. Her cool factor is high to eliminate her.
K-I: Charon. I have to admit, the ghoulie has grown on me.
K-I: Sgt. RL-3. Same ol' Sarge, but he won't desert you if you get too nice or too naughty.

Reasons for Eliminated characters:
Cross: Annoying dialogue, lousy projectile weapon.
Butch: Do you have to ask?
Dogmeat: He just keeps dying on me

I was going to fill this in also, but it'd look too much like yours - that's pretty much spot on what I would have said. The best one outta your new ones has to be Rocky, come on, we all wanted to see Rocky get a better part. You give a guy a name like that and then give him one tiny dialogue, that's pants. The only thing I'd change is Clover, but I can't think of anyone of equal interesting-ness to replace her. :/

Interesting... I thought I was the only person on the board who liked Brick.

Not at all, I love her! XD I don't understand the Brickhate, she always makes me smile. Guys seem to think she's trying to hard to be some butch woman but I don't think so, I think she really is that awesome X3

It's the eyebrows. They're terrifying.

My eight followers:

Charon- Karma irrelevant killing machine
Vance- Neutral, everyone needs their own personal bloodsvcker, Shishkebab all the way
Clover- Evil, but nice eye candy once made over and she dances cute
Quinn- Good, knows the lay of the land and how to deal with people peacefully (like that will be useful...)
Roy Phillips- Evil, loves making smoothskins bleed with his DB shotty (I know it's from PL but he needs one)
Cerberus- Karma irrelevant gooification unit
Irving Cheng- Neutral comrade, loves his Xuanlong Assault Rifle
Button Gwinnett- Good, we keep him around for comedic relief

Vance would be an interesting Neutral choice, and his Shishkebab would be a great weapon, but I like Rococo and Syd better.

I am going to pick based not on karma considerations (I don't care about those) but on who will keep me the most entertained. I imagine we would be like a bad family road trip movie without the minivan.

1 - Charon, I never travel without him.

2 - Vance. (I did NOT steal this idea from Ghouls) I think he'd be hilarious. I question his abilities actually, but don't much care how good he'd be. With 8 followers it wouldn't matter. Also, he does carry the Shish which is one of my favorite weapons and he makes me laugh. I'd get him to talk a lot. Maybe he'd complain about being outside in the daylight.
3 - Bittercup. The one from BigTown. Also for the laughs factor. She mostly carries a lead pipe around. I'd give her a Shishkebob and just listen to her emo babbling. I never get tired of it.
4 - Clover. She is such a whiner. She makes a good complement to the other two and takes good care of my character like Charon does. Also, I'd give her a Shish as well. They'd be unstoppable and there would be flamey debris behind us everywhere we went.

5. Jericho - He isn't as nice as 2-4 but he is pretty funny and I like to think that he'd be mean to Vance and hit on Bittercup and Clover. It would make things interesting. Also, he's great with a Shish. That makes 4 (count 'em four) followers with Shishkebobs.

6. Dogmeat - It wouldn't matter so much to me that he never says anything except "aroo" and "pant, pant, pant" really loudly because I'd never hear him over everyone else. Also, I love the way he takes out Bloatflies.
7. Fawkes - I'd restrict him to his Melee weapon and he could stand around all day looking at the sky if he wanted to. I don't really want him to fight as much as just hang around be gigantic and ugly and Mutie-ish.

8. And finally, I think I would take along Brailee Ewers from Arefu. She's a complete nutcase and would probably try to make dinner for us everynight out of TinCans, wrenches and burned books and stuff. It'd be great. I would NOT give her a Shishkebob. She'd probably set us all on fire with it.

GOOD:

1. Uncle Leo (feel bad that hes all alone)
Ranged weapon- Gatling Laser
Melee- Super Sledge

2. Harkness (obviously he wouldn't be immortal as a follower)
Ranged Weapon- Chinese Assault Rifle
Melee- Unarmed/Fists

BAD: (I'd like more heavy weapon using followers.)

1. Commander Jabsco
Ranged Weapon- Missile Launcher
Melle- Combat Knife

2. Lag-Bolt
Ranged Weapon- Heavy Incinerator
Melee- Police Baton

NEUTRAL:

1. Smiling Jack ( Under the condition that i would be using The Terrible Shotgun and him using a normal Combat Shotgun.)
Ranged Weapon- Combat Shotgun
Melee- Baseball Bat

2. Wernher
Ranged Weapon- Scoped .44 Magnum
Melee- Brass Knuckles

K-I:

1. Amata
Ranged Weapon- 10mm Sub-Machinegun
Melee- Combat Knife

2. Everett
Ranged Weapon- Hunting Rifle
Melee- Iron Pipe

EVIL:
1) Mad Johnny Wes (A “survivor”, understands tactics, carries 10 bottles of scotch)
Ranged - Eugene
Up-close - 10mm SMG

2) The Preacher (Explosives expert, and the unique perk – “Distraction”)
Ranged – Fat Boy
Up-close - Frag Grenades

GOOD:
3) Grandma Sparkle (Learned in intelligence gathering, also has the “My Boy’s Won’t Find Their Own Place” perk, similar to the Mysterious Stranger perk, but fulfilled by “her boys”.)
Ranged – Ol’ Painless
Up-close – Rolling Pin

4) Evan King (Shoots first, asks questions latter. Sweet on Granny Sparkle)
Ranged – Sniper Rifle
Up-close – Assault Rifle

NEUTRAL:
5) Sergeant RL-3 (Has "reinforcemtn" perk - weird glitch in programming that allows for the easy replacement of “deceased” followers.)
Ranged – Plasma Rifle
Up-close – Flamer

6) Colin Moriaty (Intelligence gatherer, “clicks” with Mad Johnny)
Ranged – Xuanlong Assault Rifle
Up-close – Stabhappy

KARMA IRRELEVANT:
7) Michael Masters (Esteem builder – “You did good, kid”)
Ranged – Dart Gun
Up-close – The Tenderizer

8) Dog Meat (Scout, the “glue” for all other companions)
Ranged – Sneaky-leaping attack
Up-close – Snapping-slashing jaws/paws of DEATH!

The Lone Wander reserves the Blackhawk and Plunkett’s Valid Points for himself.

Ya, it may not be the “baddest” group to stroll the Wasteland, but our morale can’t be beat!

Remember, the usual "vanilla" rules apply. You're not making a party, just offering what you consider the ideal selection. For me, two followers is kind of the limit; even with that many, the game runs screwily.